Advisors & Editorial Contributors: Caitlyn Andrews, Shelby Diehl, Amy Mead, Catherine Nesbit, Cordelia Norris, Paul Sparks and the following iNaturalist contributors of photography: Kai Yan, Joseph Wong, Priscilla Titus, squama tologistand and nat_t.
We appreciate your interest and hope you enjoy the Festival.
Cape Fear’s Going Green Going Green Publications P. O. Box 3164 • Wilmington, NC 28406 (910) publisher@goinggreenpublications.com547-4390www.goinggreenpublications.com
Cape Fear’s Going Green is available by subscription or on our Web site. Print copies are available at eco-friendly businesses and locations, including:New Hanover County Arboretum, Aunt Kerry’s Pet Stop, Lovey’s Market, New Hanover County Public Library (Northeast Branch), Old Books on Front Street, Pomegranate Books, Tidal Creek Coop, UNCW, Shelton Herb Farm, and many Harris Teeter and Food Lion stores throughout the region.
Buy Plants (throughout the community)
Editorial: If you have story ideas or calendar items to suggest, email us at editor@goinggreenpublications.com, or call (910) 547-4390.
On the Cover
Sister City: Eugene, Oregon (Voted “Greenest City” 2006 by The Green Guide)
True native plants are those that are found in the wild in their original geographical areas and environments. Cultivars are plants that have been cross-bred either naturally without human intervention or those bred to have favorable traits, such as color, form, productiveness, or hardiness. If the cultivars are used for decorative purposes, no harm done. If the cultivars are used for commercial or scientific purposes, it is important to preserve information about the plants used to create the cultivars. Whether you use true natives or cultivars, enjoy the plants and treat them well.
Why Go Native?
Natives or Cultivars?
Native plants are a wonderful choice for the home gardener. Plants that have evolved in your home region are suited to thrive with minimal care once established. They have also co-evolved over time to be part of the whole ecological system of the area: beneficial insects live on native plants (and not non-natives), and in turn are available as food for birds rearing their young and other wildlife.
See page 7 for information on the Nature at Home program to help gardeners incorporate natives.
Special Thanks to Friends of the Arboretum, Primary Sponsor of the Annual Native Plant Festival
2 Native Plant Festival 2022 www.goinggreenpublications.com
At the Arboretum you can enjoy gardening-related exhibits and hourly gardening presentations. The schedule of lectures is on our back cover. We have lots of information to share through helpful Master Gardener handouts. Please tour the native plant demonstration garden, where docents will be available to answer questions.
This year’s Festival is again two events in one: educational events at the New Hanover County Arboretum and native plant sales at five other sites throughout the community. We hope you will enjoy learning about native plants, and then venturing out to buy some to take home.
Learn (at the Arboretum)
Cape Fear’s Going Green is distributed free through Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender counties. If you have a business and would like to receive multiple copies for the public, please contact us. The views and opinions expressed in articles in this magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of this publication.
This year’s plant sale is again a self-guided tour of nurseries that specialize in native plants: you can buy directly from the growers and ask questions about how to care for plants once you get them home. Eleven different plant sellers are participating this year, at five locations in New Hanover and Brunswick Counties. See our map on pages 4–5 for locations.
Publisher & Editor in Chief: Valerie Robertson
Cape Fear’s Going Green is a quarterly publication promoting eco-friendly resources and lifestyles in the Lower Cape Fear River Basin.
The mission of the Native Plant Festival is to educate the public on the benefits and importance of native plants for our local ecosystems, and to promote and support native plant growers to increase demand and supply of native plants in our region.Byvisiting
Welcome to the Seventh Annual Native Plant Festival!
— The Native Plant Alliance Festival Planning Committee
A sweat bee (Halictus sp.) enjoys a black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida) in the Native Plant Demonstration Garden of the New Hanover County Arbo retum. Sweat bees are native bees, important as pollinators of wildflowers, fruits, vegetables and other crops. Photo by Amy Mead.
7th
various local sellers, you can get familiar with growers available to you not just the day of the Festival, but all throughout the year. We encourage you to continue to patronize local, independent growers of native plants.
Advertising information: Email ads@goinggreenpublications.com.
From the Organizers
Eugene Contributing Editor: Mary Robertson
photo © [Paul Sparks] Adobe Stock 410160968 Silvery Checkerspots are attracted to Black-eyed Susans.
Let’s dive into some native varieties of Rudbeckia that are sure to bring Silvery Checkerspot butterflies—among other pol linators—to your garden this year.
3Native Plant Festival 2022www.goinggreenpublications.com
Black-eyed Susans are no stranger to the average garden. After all, the bright colors are not only eye-catching, but the flower’s variants grow in a variety of conditions—from moist to damp soils and from shade to full sun. This makes it a perfect, accessible attraction for many in southeastern North Carolina, including the gorgeous Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis) butterfly.What makes the Black-eyed Susan so attractive to the Silvery Checkerspot butterfly is two-fold. First, the adult Silvery Checkerspot butterflies adore the nectar of the beautiful flower, enough to lay their eggs on the foliage. Then, once the larvae hatch, the young Checkerspots are fond of the tasty leaves of the Susans, munching on them until they mature.
Bring your gardening questions to your local cooperative extension office. The Plant Clinic at the New Hanover County Arboretum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and can help you with plant identification, solving plant health problems and sending soil samples for testing.
Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta var. hirta
Rudbeckia fulgida. Observation © Kai Yan, Joseph Wong, inaturalist.org/ photos/1471130. No changes made.
Rudbeckia hirta var. hirta. Observation © Priscilla Titus, inaturalist.org/obser vations/91446707. No changes made.
Rudbeckia fulgida prefers various moist soils with direct sunlight, making it a great choice for home gardens with differ ing conditions. The coneflowers’ petals are slightly curved with a yellow-orange appearance, each toothed at its apex. The petals sit atop 12- to 36-inch stems with scattered, oval leaves covered with bristly hairs. You can expect orange coneflower to bloom from July to October, making it a late summer/early fall gem.
Black-eyed Susan prefers clayey loam to sandy loam soils, and has low to moderate water requirements. This flower does love the sun given it grows in full sun to partial shade conditions, so if you’re growing this variety, be sure she can get plenty of sunlight! The susans’ petals are yellow in appearance with rounded tips. The tall stems, which grow to be from 12 to 40 inches in height, display alternating two to six-inch leaves. In North Carolina, this variety blooms from May to July, but can bloom as late as October.
Orange Coneflower, Rudbeckia fulgida
Attract Silvery Checkerspots with Native Rudbeckia This Planting Season
by Shelby Diehl
(continued on page 6)
Festival Sale Hours: 9a-4p
4 Native Plant Festival 2022 www.goinggreenpublications.com
Flytrap Jones
Grizz’s Nursery
7026 Market Street Wilmington, NC 28411 Festival Sale Hours: 9a-6p (910) 319-7740
Carolina Girl Gardens
Leland, NC 28451
Tour Location: Shelton Herb Farm Festival Sale Hours: 9a-4p (252) 258-0916
Festival Sale Hours: 9a-4:30p (910) 350-6772
Wild Bird & Garden (3 vendors) 3501 Oleander Dr. Wilmington, NC 28403 Festival Sale Hours: Sat. 10a-4:30p Contact: Jill (910)wildbirdgardeninc@gmail.comPeleuses343-6001
Above the Briery
Sorrel’s Lawn Care & Nursery Tour Location: Wild Bird & Garden Festival Sale Hours: 10a-4p (252) 286-5358
Tour Location: Wild Bird & Garden Festival Sale Hours: Pre-Sale Thu-Fri; Plant Pick-Up Sat. 10a-4p (910) 395-4236
Learn about plants at the Arboretum and Buy plants wherever you see a green map pin.
Tour Location: Shelton Herb Farm Festival Sale Hours: 9a-4p (910) 547-4934
2022 Native
Contact: Margaret (910)info@sheltonherbfarm.comShelton253-5964
Wild Meadow Farm Tour Location: Shelton Herb Farm Festival Sale Hours: 9a-4p
Shelton Herb Farm (5 plant vendors)
(910)FestivalWilmington,StreetNC29403SaleHours:10a-3p690-0452
Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022
Going Native Gardens
Green map pins indicate five sites where you can buy native plants the day of the festival. Note two sites will host multiple sellers. Festival hours are 10 a.m.–3 p.m., but some vendors selling from their own bricks & mortar location may be open longer, to match their customary business hours. We hope you enjoy visiting multiple plant sellers and getting acquainted with them. Details on how to reach these sellers year-round appear on page Thank7.you to Caitlyn Andrews for creating our map. The online ver sion is available at bit.ly/3Cu9htX.
Tour Location: Shelton Herb Farm Festival Sale Hours: 9a-4p (910) 269-3943
PLANT SALE LOCATIONS:
5523 Oleander Drive Wilmington, NC 28403
Blooms+Branches Garden Center
Native Plant Festival
The Garden Shop
340 Goodman Rd. NE
1942 Moss
Plant Festival
Wild Bird & Garden
Arboretum
5Native Plant Festival 2022September 17, 2022
blueridgecountry.com/departments/mountain-garden/fcgov.com/vegetation/?view=1072-blackeyed-susanfs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/forb/rudhir/all.htmlwildflower.orgmake-a-silvery-checkerspot%27s-day/
• plantnative.org
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• www.ncwildflower.org
Shelby Diehl is a senior at the University of North Carolina Wilmington studying environmental science with a concentration in conservation and creative writing with a certificate in publishing. She is a Going Green contributor and plans to pursue a career in climate communications and/or journalism that will allow her to advocate for environmental causes worldwide.
Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
Rudbeckia hirta var. angustifolia. Observation © nat_t, inaturalist.org/obser vations/58478534. No changes made.
• ncseagrant.ncsu.edu
Coastal Plain Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta var. angustifolia
Coastal Plain Black-eyed Susan prefers clay, loam and sandy soils, making it perfect for gardens in southeastern North Carolina. The flower grows well in full sun with slightly moist to moderately dry soil conditions. The flowers’ petals are most often yellow, surrounding a cone-shaped center at the top of a stem that grows to be from 12 to 36 inches in height. Coastal Plain Black-eyed Susan blooms from March to August.
If you stock this in the future, please contact me:
page 3
• www.fws.gov/raleigh/pdfs/NativePlantsCoastalNC.pdf
• ncbg.unc.edu › Plants
I use North Carolina native plants in my garden. Today I was looking for:
Here is a blank coupon you can use: photocopy or photograph with your phone and print it. Fill it out and leave it with the store if you don’t find the plant you’re looking for. The more people express an interest in purchasing natives, the more readily avail able they will become.
Some useful websites offering information about native plants of Coastal North Carolina:
Thank you!
Attract Silvery Checkerspots with Native Rudbeckia – continued from
Ask for Native Plants at Local Retailers
This Black-eyed Susan variant prefers dry, sandy soils with lots of sunlight. The susans’ petals can either be pure yellow, or they can have a dark red to yellow gradient going outward from the center cone. These petals flaunt themselves atop stems that grow to be from 12 to 30 inches in height. Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcher rima blooms from March to November. If happy, this plant will behave as perennial! You may even find some fritillary butterflies in your garden with this flower around.
Sources:
Your local nursery wants your business. If you’d like to buy more native plants from a particular store, let them know of your interest in using North Carolina native plants.
Rudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima. Observation © squamatologist, inatural ist.org/observations/109705373. No changes made.
Here’s how to contact them after the Festival:
Thanks to all our vendors of native plants!
Did you know that a nesting pair of chickadee parents feed their babies somewhere between 350 and 570 caterpillars every day? Thanks to the research of Doug Tallamy,* we know it can take at least 6,000 caterpillars to raise one family of birds. Ninetyfive percent of songbirds depend on the availability of caterpillars and other insects in order raise their young. And where do insects live? On native plants!
• Replace invasive, non-native plants;
• Leave the leaves to add organic material to the soil;
Christina Sorrell • facebook.com/sorrellsnursery • (252) 286-5358
Carolina Girl Gardens www.facebook.com/CarolinaGirlGardens/ • (910) 319-7740
If you’d like to add wildlifefriendly landscaping at home but aren’t sure how, this pro gram will help you get started.
insects
Grizz’s Nursery
Before you go and squish that caterpillar...
Joyce Huguelet • huguelet@bellsouth.net • (910) 395-4236
Flytrap Jones
Wild Meadow Farm
• Include water features;
Above the Briery
©
• Reduce use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers;
photo [KQ Ferris]
New Nature at Home Program Helps Gardeners Grow Wild
Thanks to Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Association of New Hanover County for making this print publication possible.
Michael Gore • grizznursery15@gmail.com • (910) 547-4934
Blooms + Branches Garden Center, LLC info@bloomsandbranchesnc.com • (910) 350-6772
Jill Peleuses • wildbirdgardeninc@gmail.com • (910) 343-6001
Rebecca Patman • rebecca@wildmagnoliadesigns.com • (910) 690-0452
Adobe255623754Stock
Eastern Bluebirds feed to their young.
Thanks to the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, for hosting the Festival and providing staff.
For a one-time $25.00 application fee, a New Hanover County resident can apply to be a certified Nature at Home site, at newhanover.ces.ncsu.edu/horticulture-4/. This site is also where you’ll find a brochure describing the program and some links to resources. (The program is in New Hanover County, for now.)
A team of two trained Master Gardener Ambassadors will visit your site and find out what the you have in mind. The ambas sadors will make recommendations, providing helpful feedback and information on valuable resources.
• Provide structures that support wildlife.
Sorrell’s Lawn Care & Nursery
Here is how the program works:
Going Native Gardens (at Wild Bird & Garden)
Once certified, a resident receives a Certified Nature at Home yard sign.
* Douglas W. Tallamy is the author of Bringing Nature Home—How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants and Nature’s Best Hope—A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard. Both are available at the New Hanover County Arboretum gift shop.
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• Plant native plants;
—Alistair Glen Growing Wild Nursery
For our future generations to see and appreciate the natural world as we do, it’s important that we learn to welcome all sorts of creatures into our surroundings. Maybe in time we will all look at plants, not in terms of how pest resistant they are, but in terms of how many insects they attract. So, before you go and squish that caterpillar, think of it as “bird food” and consider tolerating a little damage for the sake of other species who call your landscape home.
Richard Jones • venusflytrapjones@gmail.com • (910) 269-3943
• Increase garden beds and reduce lawn;
Shelton Herb Farm
The Garden Shop
Chris Dean & Maria Ortado • WildMeadowFarmNC@gmail.com
Margaret Shelton • info@sheltonherbfarm.com • (910) 253-5964
Home gardeners are at the forefront of helping support widlife in our area. No matter what size your gardening area— from extensive yard to flower pots on the porch—you can make effective use of your space to help birds and other wildlife.
Wild Bird & Garden
Cape Fear Audubon and NC State Extension/Master Gardeners of New Hanover County have formed a partnership committed to educating and encouraging residents to support wildlife by planting native plants and removing non-native, inva sive plants. The program is called Nature at Home and is based on the work of Doug Tallamy. The program advocates the following management practices:
Karen Mulcahy • Karen@abovethebriery.com • (252) 258-0916